1. Field of the Invention
Generally, the invention relates to tools utilized during the playing of golf. More specifically, the invention relates to tools utilized at least during play on greens of golf courses and configured to perform at least four (4) useful functions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The game of golf is enjoyed by many persons. Such players range from beginner players to occasional recreational players to serious recreational players to serious amateur players to professional players. Many regular non-professional players, including retired or semi-retired persons, routinely enjoy the game of golf on a very regular basis. It is common to have players of golf living in communities which have at least one golf course owned and operated by the community. Such players often enjoy a round of golf on a very regular schedule, including daily.
Numerous tools, including divot tools, exist to assist golfers during the play of the game of golf. Golfers typically utilize a collection of golf clubs during play which include woods, irons and a putter. Normally such clubs are retained in a golf bag during storage, transport to and from the playing areas of golf courses, and during movement about the golf course during play. Numerous designs of golf bags exist in the art with areas for placement of the golf clubs and various other objects associated with the play of golf, such other objects including various tools utilized during the play of the game of golf. Various of these tools are occasionally carried about on the person of the player, either in a pocket of clothing or otherwise attached to clothing, such as in belt clips.
All golf courses employ persons to tend to and care for their golf course including providing for the care and maintenance of the vegetation associated with the course. This includes watering and mowing of the grass of the fairways and greens and the grass about the fairways and greens. The greens are particularly important to both the personnel of the golf course and to the players. Each player, at each of the holes of a golf course, move their ball from the tee along a fairway to the green and eventually into the cup. During such play a lofted shot will often land on the green where the impact of the ball, depending upon the distance stuck and the height obtained, will compress the well manicured grass of the green, and the soil underneath, at the point of impact. This point of impact, beyond being an impediment to subsequent players putting across this point to reach the cup, will actually damage the green if the compression is not relieved relatively quickly. It is known to have at least some of the grass at such untended impact points actually die. Experienced and considerate players of golf take great care to ensure that they do not damage the golf course, including the greens. Therefore, most players carry and routinely use a divot tool to manually release the compacting pressure caused by divots created by their respective play. Most serious players, when they notice a divot on a green which they, or their party, did not cause will routinely tend to the noted divot and release the compacting pressure of the divot.
It is known to provide tools have various capabilities. Tools are known in the art to provide for performance of each of these useful functions, divot repair, club support, club face groove cleaning, golf shoe spike cleaning, golf shoe spike installation and removal, rotationally manipulating a phillips head screw, rotationally manipulating a slotted head screw, removing a bottle cap from a bottle, sharpening a pencil and lifting a pull tab from a beverage can.
Various of the above mentioned useful functions are occasionally desired to be performed during the play of the game of golf. Few players would even consider taking along individual tools to perform all of these useful functions. Some multi purpose tools are known in the art having numerous functional capabilities. An excellent example is the multi purpose tool where pivotal manipulation from a housing transfers portions between a stored orientation and a deployed orientation. While very versatile, these tools are awkward to manipulate to bring the desired portion having the desired feature into the deployed orientation. Additionally, following performance of the desired useful function the deployed portion must then be returned to the respective stored orientation. All of this is time consuming and may even result in injury to the user, such as damage to fingernails used during initial transfer of the portion from the stored orientation to the deployed orientation. A far better solution resides in placing structures to perform all of the desired useful functions on a single tool without any moving parts which must be manipulated.
Referring now to storage of tools, the above mentioned desire by most players to prevent damage to the greens creates a problem for many golfers. Due to the nature of play many players do not like to carry objects, even small objects such as divot tools, in their pockets during play as they tend to inhibit, even if merely moderately, a full swing from the tee and from the fairways and from bunkers. Many players leave their golf bags on golf carts which are never driven onto greens, but rather are parked a considerable distance from the respective green on or near a cart path. Many players who carry their golf bags, or walk them around the course on wheeled carts, also never take the golf bags physically onto the greens but leave them adjacent to the greens. Many players routinely remove their putter and their divot tool from their golf bag prior to going onto the green. During the excitement of play, even frequent players will occasionally forget to retrieve their divot tool prior to going onto the green. Therefore, when a player arrives on the green their divot tool will often be in their golf bag which has been left a considerable distance away.
It has been suggested in the art to attach a divot tool to a putter where the divot tool will always be available to the player while carrying the putter, including while on a respective green. Various Patents have provided for attachment of a divot tool to the handle of a golf club, including putters, where the tines extend beyond the end of the grip. This provides for the player to hold the head of the club and manipulate the divot tool without requiring bending over or squatting down. While interesting these class of devices do not provide for storage of the divot tool during actual play with the club. Typically players would be distracted to actually putt with one of these divot tools attached to the end of the grip of the putter. Various Patents have placed the storage location on the putter head behind the striking surface. At least one of these Patents placed the divot tool in the stored state extending outward behind the head of the putter where it would also act as an aiming guide to assist the player in proper ball striking. Several Patents have taught building a divot tool into the putter, either on the head or in the end of the grip. When placed on the head a common deployment arrangement involves arcing the divot tool outward from a storage location in a general one hundred and eighty (180) degree swing from an anchoring pivot pin. A common problem with building a divot tool into a putter is that the player then does not have the freedom to change putters to find the best design and construction for their respective needs, desires and style of play. Therefore, prior art references which incorporate a divot tool into the design and manufacture of putters are not applicable to the present invention. A more relevant prior art Patent suggested detachable attachment of a divot tool to the shaft of the putter in close proximity to the head of the putter. This prior art reference taught a mere pressure clip attachment which permits the divot tool to rotate about the shaft where it might distract the player during putting.
Various deficiencies exist with each of the known methods of providing tools capable of performing desired useful functions during the play of the game of golf. As can be seen various attempts have been made to provide for a player with tools for use during play of the game of golf. These attempts have been less efficient than desired. As such, it may be appreciated that there continues to be a need for a multiple purpose tool capable of being readily carried about by the player and which has no moving parts which the player must manipulate in order to utilize the multiple purpose tool to perform any of the desired useful functions. The present invention substantially fulfills these needs.